The Stolen Earth and Journey's End
by Akira444
Summary: Chapter One is up, please review. Meet Romana, head-strong, brilliant, a Time Lady, and standing in the middle of Torchwood's hub... naked, trying to find the TARDIS.
1. Prologue

THE STOLEN EARTH

_This is written in novel format with words, and my own words based on the episode, along with the addition of a 'new character'. Some words and scenes may not be alike. Constructive feedback is recommended, but not enforced. I have done my best to research so this 'new character' can fit in perfectly._

Everything seemed perfectly normal in this perfectly ordinary suburban street. It appeared to be early morning, when suddenly a whooshing noise startled a couple of birds feeding on a few chip scraps in the middle of the road. The TARDIS phased into view, and seconds later, The Doctor rushed out into the middle of the road looking quite startled, followed by his companion, Donna Noble.

The Doctor hurriedly looked for anything that didn't seem ordinary. "It's fine... Everything's fine. Nothing's wrong, all fine!"

Donna dropped her mouth open to start a reply, when she was interrupted by a milk truck stopping by them, and the Doctor ran up to the driver as the Milkman placed some crates in front of a house.

"'Scuse me, what day is it?" The Doctor asked, attempting to look a bit daft so not to confuse the poor Milkman, no doubt he'd encountered many strange things on his deliveries, such as one day greeting Jackie Tyler two years ago wearing nothing but a very short silk nightie and was called inside for a brief spot of breakfast.

The hardly startled milkman gazed at the Doctor and rubbed his nose. "Saturday", he replied effortlessly.

___The Doctor merely nodded, but replied rather quickly with _"Saturday. Good. Good, I like Saturdays".

Letting the Milkman return on his daily rounds, Donna continued to question the Doctor on her recent meeting. "So, I just met Rose Tyler?"

The Doctor peered at Donna somewhat before nodding. "Yeah",

Donna gazed at him confused. Hadn't he been constantly telling her that Rose had been trapped in a parallel world? "But she's locked away in a parallel world", she questioned, hoping the Doctor remembered this fact.

Of course, he did remember this fact, and the fact was... something bad was happening. Something, horrible, something that could no doubt cause the entire universe to collapse around him, he answered Donna with a quick: "Exactly. If she can cross from her parallel world to your parallel world, than that means the walls of the universe are breaking down. Which puts everything in danger, everything... but how?"

The Doctor raced back into the TARDIS, Donna following suit, something she had got used to rather quickly. Unknown to them, outside, the milk bottles began to rattle. The Milkman gazed at the bottles shaking before suddenly the entire earth started to shake. He dashed back into his truck and aimed for a quick getaway.

The Doctor frowned as he was fiddling with the controls of the TARDIS. Millions of thoughts rushed through his mind in a matter of seconds, one thought still remaining: Rose. How on earth could she be passing through from her universe to this one, and survive... without a TARDIS? He had to destroy a small sun to say goodbye to her, and even then it was more or less a holographic image.

He could feel his hand, which had been severed during that fateful Christmas Day where he fought the Sycorax and succeeded, bubbling by his foot. Something told him to keep it handy; after all... it was a pretty good hand.

He noticed Donna walking up beside him, as she quietly watched him messing about with the TARDIS controls.

"Thing is, Doctor. No matter what's happening, and I'm - I'm sure it's bad, I get that. But, Rose is coming back. Isn't that good?" Donna asked the question a little more gently, knowing Rose was definitely a sensitive subject when it came to the Doctor.

The Doctor looked up, greeting Donna with one of his lopsided grins. Yes, there was a chance that Rose was coming back... but there was another who could be coming back as well. He tried to push that idea to the back of his mind. Rose was all that mattered, Rose and stopping the universe from collapsing all around them.

"Yeah", he finally said, his grin vanishing within a second as a loud noise interrupted them, and the Doctor found himself grabbing onto a section of the TARDIS as it began to shake violently.

"What the hell was that?" Donna asked in her typical surprised tone, attempting to stand upright.

The Doctor thought about the noise quickly. It didn't sound like it came from inside the TARDIS, no, he knew his beloved TARDIS like the back of his hand... including the one bubbling by his foot. He knew every sound the TARDIS made, every groan, every sigh... but this... was different. Like Rock. "It came from outside", he made a brisk run for the door and yanked it open, staring into complete darkness. Asteroids floating about like no tomorrow. He didn't push anything to make the TARDIS travel, Donna didn't, either. He constantly told her not to push anything unless he told her to.

"We're in space!" The Doctor exclaimed, facing Donna who gave him a sort of 'duh', type look.

"I can see that, but how?" She was trying to make sense of the asteroids floating around them. She turned as the Doctor ran back to the console. 'Lots of running', she swore she lost a dress size during her time with the Doctor. "What did you do?"

"We haven't moved", the Doctor started, glancing at the monitor furiously, trying to find answers. "We're fixed... can't have, no!" His face dropped to a look of disbelief as Donna looked at him; mouth gaped, waiting for a sensible answer. The Doctor ran to the door and looked out at space once more, when he finally came to a conclusion. "We haven't moved, but the Earth has gone... the whole planet. It's gone".

--

**MEANWHILE: FAR ACROSS THE UNIVERSE IN NEW YORK...**

An office building appeared to be in complete shambles following the strange movement that the Milkman had experienced earlier. Cables sparked and smoked, a few office workers were laying on the ground, and then a familiar face woke up from a brief state of unconsciousness. Martha Jones, a former companion to the Doctor and a Doctor of her own study, she currently works for UNIT. She lifted up her head with a groan.

"What was that?" Martha found herself interrupted by a voice over the PA.

"Emergency systems are online".

Other soldiers in the office start to get to their feet, groaning and all wondering what had happened. New York was not one prone to Earthquakes, and for a brief second, some feared it could've been another alien attack, or worse, another 9/11.

Martha looked around at her workmates and then shook her head back to reality. She rose to her feet. "Is anyone hurt?" she peered in another circular motion to see people shaking their heads. "We've lost power; will someone get the lights back on? DaCosta, see to it right now! Suzanne, are you okay?"

Suzanne, a workmate of Martha's in the field of simple Admin, was in a shocked state as she stared out of the window. "Look at the sky", she breathed, having seen nothing like it in reality, but only in her dreams. "Martha, look at the sky!"

"Why? What is it?" Unlike Suzanne, Martha had seen things beyond Suzanne's simple view of reality.

"Just look at the sky!"

--

**NOT TOO FAR AWAY... IN CARDIFF...**

The Torchwood crew were struggling to hold up monitors and priceless artifacts as the ground shook once more. Captain Jack Harkness wiped his brow in a quick movement as he glanced around to ensure his team were okay, eventually letting go of an important piece of rock.

"Whoa! What happened? Gwen? Ianto? Are you two okay?"

"No broken bones, slight loss of dignity. No change there, then", replied Ianto with a frown, as he brushed himself over.

Gwen, who appeared to be in complete shock, declared "The whole city must've felt that... the whole of South Wales!" she hoped Jack had an answer to this seemingly odd event, and she adjusted her blouse before running her fingers through her hair. "Did anyone else just see..." a brief flash of light appeared out of the corner of her eye, but by the time anyone noticed her comment, Jack was already half way up the stairs.

"I'm gonna take a look outside", he said, with a swish of his cloak, and he was gone.

Gwen sighed and sat next to Ianto at a computer terminal. "Little bigger than South Wales", Ianto said with a shrug as a new display showed various spots of red all over the globe.

--

**JUST DOWN THE ROAD, IN EALING, LONDON.**

Sarah Jane Smith, former companion to the Doctor and proud mother of a rather brilliant son, shook herself back to reality as she hopped to her feet and searched for her son amongst fallen debris. "Luke! Are you all right?"

Luke Smith got to his feet. The young man shook some dust out of his hair and glanced over his mother for any obvious injuries, before nodding with satisfaction. "Felt like some sort of cross-dimensional spatial transference".

Noting her son's observation, sounding oddly more and more like the Doctor every day, she ran to the window and pulled the curtains open. Noticing darkness, she glances at her son in surprise. "But it's night! It wasn't night... it was eight o'clock in the morning!" She turned to a wall nearby. "Mr Smith... I need you!"

An energetic trumpet fan fare filled the room, constantly boring both Sarah Jane and Luke. The pair rolled their eyes. Mr Smith, a supercomputer, appeared from behind the wall. "Can you stop giving such a dramatic entrance and simply give me an answer!"

Mr Smith answered in a rather calm voice: "Sarah Jane, take a look outside. I think you will find the visual evidence quite conclusive".

--

**OKAY, SO NOW WE ARE IN CHISWICK, LONDON.**

Armed with a baseball bat, Donna Noble's grandfather, Wilf, entered into the street, shaking the baseball bat at the sky in defiance. He knew something like this would happen sooner or later, and he was going to defend his family no matter the cost.

"It's gone dark! It's them aliens! I'll bet my pension... What d'you want this time, you green swine?!"

Donna's mother, Sylvia, looked at the sky in fright.

"Dad", she said, pulling on the sleeve of Wilf's jacket. "Look at the sky", the words escaped her lips as if she were choking.

"Look, you get back inside!" he said, shrugging off her arm and shoving her in the direction of the house. "They always go after the women!"

"No, Dad, just look! Oh my God, look at the sky!"

Wilf took a breath and peered upward, his eyes widening. He'd never seen anything like it. He gripped onto his daughter's hand. Only the Doctor could save them now.

--

Luke and Sarah Jane were staring at the same sky, the same shocked expressions appearing on their faces. "That's impossible", Sarah Jane admitted with a brief blink to make sure she wasn't in the TARDIS.

--

Captain Jack Harkness had seen many things in his lifetime, but he'd never seen anything like this. "That's just impossible", he said with a shake of his head.

--

Martha Jones and the rest of her UNIT team were staring at the sky with the same look of confusion on their face. "It can't be..."

--

Back on that same ordinary street, this time covered by an extraordinary sky, the Milkman was staring up and questioning if his affairs were in order. Suddenly, a woman wearing a blue jacket and jeans with blonde hair came running out of what looked like a teleport wielding a big gun. The Milkman then checked his pulse to make sure he hadn't completely fallen down dead.

Rose Tyler looked up at the sky without a simple look of surprise as the others had shared. She cocked the weapon. "Right, now we're in trouble... it's only just beginning".

Finally, we follow her view... and just like their shocked expressions... yours turn to the same... as suddenly a dark sky filled with foreign planets are lining your sky that you had never seen before in your life time.


	2. Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE.

Donna Noble stared at the Doctor as he admitted the entire Earth had gone missing. She never herself contemplated this fact to occur, Earth, a mere blip in the universe... suddenly gone missing, while she and the Doctor, safely tucked away in the TARDIS, were pottering about wondering what happened, as no doubt her family were suffering somewhere a million light years away. "But if the Earth's been moved... what about the sun? What about my mum, my grandad? They'd all be dead!" she swallowed the thought. "They're dead, aren't they?"

The Doctor frowned as he continued to look at a monitor for answers. He thought he knew everything, but this event had completely baffled him. Who had the power and the technology to move an entire planet? Surely it looked like the Solar System was still in place... they were still were where the Earth should've been... the other planets were still there, the moon... even Pluto, but the fact was, where's Earth? "I don't know, Donna. I simply don't know. I'm sorry".

"That's my family", admitted Donna with a choking sob. "The whole world, six billion people you constantly try to save and they're... gone, just like the cream from an Oreo!"

The Doctor was somewhat ignoring yet acknowledging Donna at the same time, her worry about her family got to him, "There's not a whisper... not a trace of where it could've gone... oh that is fearsome technology!"

"So, what do we do?" asked Donna, finally letting the Doctor take control and her worries subside.

"We've got to get help", the Doctor said with a slight racing from his two hearts. He grinned.

"From where?"

"Donna, I'm taking you to the Shadow Proclamation. Hold tight!" Suddenly, Donna screamed as the Doctor flicked a switch on the TARDIS and it spun from the bleak empty space of where the Earth once was.

--

A television was flicking through various channels as the media were attempting to make sense of this strange event. Various comedians happened to get quite a cheap shot out of this, and in particular, the television was paused on an Australian 'comedy' show, with a very strange looking man hosting it.

"Y'know, I was standing outside, and I kept thinking to myself... how hard did I hit me missues over the head last night! Then I looked up and said not hard enough!" Dave Hughes gave one of his cold laughs as the audience stifled a laugh in return.

The channel flicked again.

"The United Nations has issued an edict, asking the citizens of the world not to panic as they are still unable to explain the 26 planets that have entered the sky",

The channel flicked back to Dave Hughes of the 7pm Project as he was making a joke about a disabled man trying to talk to an alien, being his typical humour.

"...then the homeless guy said... what was I drinking last night? Furniture polish?"

Ianto suddenly burst into laughter, as from the computer next to him; Captain Jack Harkness gazed at him in disapproval.

"Ianto, there's a time and a place. Since when did you manage to pick up THAT show?"

"Well, he is sort of funny". Ianto refused to answer the second half of Jack's question.

"Take a look at this!" Jack said in a sudden change of tone, when seconds later he was knocked over by a violent force of light. As his gaze adjusted, and Ianto removed his arm from his eyes, the pair noticed a woman standing in the middle of the Hub, naked, and looking quite dazed.

"Don't just stand there", she snapped, quickly pulling of Jack's coat and wrapping it around her. "We've got a situation".

"Hold on!" Jack was still trying to gain his balance by the strange woman wearing his coat and was busy working hard at his computer. "Who are you, no wait, why are you naked?"

She looked up at him with deep brown eyes, the same endless eyes he had seen once before. Once before those eyes belonged to a man, a brilliant man, but surely... he couldn't have become a woman?

"Time and a place", she repeated his previous comment. "Do me a favour. Fetch some clothes and I'll do what I can to rectify this issue, has anyone managed to contact the Doctor?"

"What... how did you know about him?" Ianto finally found his words.

"Clothes now, answers later. You humans... your computers barely operate fast enough to keep up with my thinking", she pulled something out of thin air that Jack quickly recognised.

"A sonic screwdriver!" Jack announced. "Hey, leave my computer alone!"

"Got it", the woman pocketed the screwdriver in an area where Jack didn't even want to think about, something that reminded him of his adventure on Satellite Five. "Clothes. Now".

Ianto glanced at Jack who shrugged. "You heard the woman", Jack said, as he noticed odd readings appearing on his monitor. "Get her some clothes, please". He grinned a little at Ianto, who hurried to his feet and up the stairs.

Gwen, who was at the top of the stairs, in mid conversation with her other half – Rhys – who was on her mobile phone, glanced at Ianto as he shoved past her. "Oy, where's the fire?"

"Naked woman, computer... Jack... clothes..." Ianto blinked and hurried into the storage room.

"Nothing new around here, then", finished Gwen, as Rhys caught the end of that comment. "No, look, just tell mum... tell her to take her pills and go to sleep. I'll be home soon... I love you, you big idiot". She hung up as she hurried down the stairs in time to see the woman at Jack's computer, wearing his cloak, and having barrels of fire red hair falling down to the small of her back. "Who's she?" Gwen demanded.

"No idea, but she's brilliant. Look at these readings... someone's established an artificial atmospheric shell... keeping the air and holding the heat... just who are you exactly?" Jack poked the pale shoulder of the woman sitting at the computer as Ianto ran back downstairs with some clothes for her.

"Sorry, these were all that I could find", he tossed them to Jack.

"Why do you need me to approve them?" Jack asked, who tossed them to Gwen.

"Time and a place", Gwen sighed as the woman rose from her seat and took the clothes.

"No one touch anything until I get dressed. Understood?"

"Since who are we taking orders from, then?" Jack demanded. "Listen, lady. I'm tired of playing nice with you. I've let you play with my computer, now the least you can do..." he took out his personal pistol and pointed it at her head... "is tell me who you are".

The woman adjusted the clothes in her arms into a ball. She pointed her sonic screwdriver at the screen formerly displaying a horrible comedic act of Dave Hughes until a file came up on screen. "Pronounce my name wrong and I will not only shove that gun up your behind, but I will fire it as well".

Jack turned to the screen and brought up her name:

"Romanadvoratrelundar, aka... Romana".

"Could do with a bit of work, but it will suffice. Now, if you don't mind?" Romana peered at the two men who were gaping at her information spiralling on screen until they decided to turn around.

"So, how did you escape the E-Space, then?" Jack asked, rocking back and forth on his heels. Sure, a horrible situation was happening outside – but the fact was... they had a Time Lady in Torchwood.

Surely she would be bait to bring the Doctor back.

"Ask whoever pulled the Earth into the Medusa Cascade, or so I thought that was where we are", she said, pulling up a pink zippered vest and fluffing out her red hair. "Right. Now, as you were saying...?"

"Uhm", Ianto cleared his throat as Romana approached the trio, who were gazing at her recent findings. "Whoever's done this, wants the human race alive. That's a plus..." he paused. "27 planets, including the Earth".

"26, if you exclude the lost moon of Poosh", Romana said, pulling a face. She didn't want to admit the lost moon of Poosh was a planet. "Right, then! You there", she pointed to Jack. "...fetch me a glass of water. This new regeneration is dehydrated".

"No, but wait! That's not a planet", Gwen stated... as a big, blinking red dot appeared in the middle of the screen.

"That doesn't look like the lost moon of Poosh", frowned Romana.

--

Sarah Jane looked rather confused as she too noticed the big, blinking red dot appeared in the middle of Mr Smith.

"The reading appears to be artificial in construction", confirmed Mr Smith as Sarah nodded to herself.

"Some sort of space station, sitting at the heart of the web", she finished explaining the situation with an air of confidence around her. She turned her head to see Luke appearing with a mobile phone in his hand.

"They're fine, Maria and her dad, they're still in Cornwall. I told them to stay indoors, and Clyde's with his mum".

Suddenly, Mr Smith interrupted Sarah Jane's breath of relief for her young friends. "Sarah Jane, I have detected movement. Observe",

Both sets of eyes were fixed to Mr Smith as several blinking red objects appeared on the screen.

"Spaceships", grinned Luke.

--

General Sanchez, one of the high commanders of UNIT, looked like a cherry on top of a pavlova as he gathered various readings from the main computer. He ran a hand over his bald head, swearing he could feel beads of sweat forming between his fingertips.

"Tracking 200 objects. Earthbound trajectory! Geneva is calling a Code Red. Everyone to battle positions!" He couldn't believe these observations. He'd been trained in every single disaster possible, but when facing one such as this... he had to rely on his own judgement. He peered over at Martha Jones who was trying to make a call on her mobile. Yes, he wished he could find time to call his wife and ensure that she was all right... and their young children, but there wasn't time.

"Dr Jones, if you're not too busy", he said in a slightly sarcastic tone.

Martha looked up suddenly, frowning as she couldn't get a signal. It had worked all the time before... why not now? "I'm trying to phone the Doctor, Sir".

Sanchez started to feel a little better with this news. "And?"

Martha was slightly panicked as she threw the phone into her pocket in mere frustration. "There's no signal! This number calls anywhere in the universe, it never breaks down. They must be blocking it. Whoever 'they' are". Martha frowned deeply as she looked at the screen, and Sanchez peered in over her shoulder. We can see that it's the same image, which had startled Torchwood and Sarah Jane.

Sanchez looked a little interested, but inwardly he felt fear. There had to be some sort of hostile reason for whoever 'they' were to steal the Earth in the first place. "We're about to find out. They're coming into orbit".

--

The streets of London were different compared to normal. People were running and screaming... either in fear or drunken delight. Alarms were sounding through various stores as they were being robbed, some people escaping with for some reason limited edition DVD collections of P!NK in concert.

Rose Tyler walked through the madness, she was worried about the people, but yet she was determined to ensure that whoever is responsible for this pays. Rose was alerted to someone staggering nearby.

"The end of the world, darlin'! End of the stinkin' world!" Though quite drunk, he was fairly sincere in his words.

Rose merely acknowledged him with a nod and a smile. "Have one on me, mate".

Her thoughts solely on the Doctor and where he could be, she entered an electronics store with smashed glass everywhere. Her eyes fall on a pair of young men who picked up a couple of HD TVs.

"Right, you two! You can put that stuff down, or run for your lives", she cocked her huge gun, the pair of young men's eyes suddenly widening with surprise. "Do you like my gun?"

The men ran away terrified. She sat down and was watching a nearby screen to see the images that we had seen before. The 27 planets and the spaceships moving toward the Earth, she clicked her jaw for a moment and hoped that the Doctor saw this happening.

--

Sylvia Noble was watching the news footage on the television. Her face looked stricken with worry for not only of her own life, but for Donna, who she hadn't heard from for a while. Her face suddenly dropped open to surprise with the newsreader popping up on screen.

"We're now getting confirmed reports of spaceships. The Pentagon has issued an emergency report..."

She called out to her father. "Dad? Come and see!"

The newsreader continued: "...and now heading towards Earth in a regular pattern..."

Her voice fell to that of panic. "They're saying spaceships!"

Wilf returned to the lounge with a mobile phone in hand. He looked concerned, and for once he wasn't interested in the spaceships being shown on the telly.

"Did you find her?" Sylvia asked.

Wilf frowned deeply. "No, no, there's no reply. Where are you, Donna? Where are you, sweetheart?"

--

Back in Torchwood, the crew were watching the scene carefully as Romana tried desperately to lock onto the TARDIS via another computer. She didn't recognise the ships off hand; their machinery felt familiar... but seemed more advanced.

"So, you're a Time Lord... like the Doctor?" Jack asked, still completely fascinated that another had existed... and quite a looker at that.

"Yes. Stop asking such immature questions and give me more power!"

"I can't. You're already draining half of the rift!"

Gwen looked at the pair. "3,000 miles and closing... But who are they?!"

Jack, pleased with relief that he had a distraction, his mobile phone rang. Romana shook her head as the signal was lost yet again... and she tried desperately to find another power source by searching through the boxes nearby.

"Martha Jones! Voice of a nightingale! Tell me you put something in my drink?" He eyed Romana as she shook a very valuable artefact. "Hey! Put that down, that's priceless!"

"It's junk", Romana threw the device away. "Trust me; once you get it working again it'll be nothing but a pretty light display that'll last as long as cheap Christmas lights".

Jack rolled his eyes.

"Trouble in paradise?" Martha asked.

"You'll never believe this. There's another Doctor, and, she's... well... destroying the place at the moment".

"Another Doctor? Another Time Lord? A SHE?"

"Long story". There was an awkward silence as something else crashed in the background and Martha decided to return to the reason for her call.

"Have you heard from the Doctor?" Martha questioned.

"Not a word, Romana's trying to track the TARDIS down using power from the rift. I told her she was insane, she told me to get a haircut. Where are you?"

"I heard that", Romana snapped, as she returned to the computer with her sonic screwdriver.

"New York", Martha replied, catching some of the conversation going on in the background. "She sounds like fun".

"Perhaps if we got in a room together for fifteen minutes, who knows..."

"I've been promoted. Medical Director on Project Indigo". Martha sounded proud, yet fearful at the same time as she was watching the screen displaying the spaceships getting closer.

"Did you get that thing working?" Jack wondered.

Martha didn't look impressed that he knew about it. "Indigo's top secret, no-one's supposed to know about it",

Suddenly, there was a crash. Jack turned to see Romana throwing the keyboard onto the ground. "Useless! Pathetic primitive technology... can't even locate a TARDIS..."

"What was that?" Martha asked.

"Romana's just destroying Torchwood". Jack grinned a little; he was beginning to like her. "But I met a soldier in a bar, long story".

Ianto finally looked up with a jealous expression. "When was that?"

"Strictly professional!" Replied Jack, cutting Ianto off quickly before he could offer a response.

Gwen was still looking at the monitor. She looked rather tense. "1,500 miles, boys, and accelerating. They're almost here".

Romana stopped doing what she was doing and wandered over to Gwen. "Looks like they're trying to send a message..."

--

Sarah Jane looked up as Mr Smith alerted her of a new situation. "I'm receiving a communication from the earthbound ships. They have a message for the human race".

"Put it through, let's hear it". Sarah Jane waited with interest... yet the second she heard these next words...

"Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!"

Her heart leapt into her throat.

--

"Oh my God..." Jack said as he dropped his phone when the message started to play.

"Exterminate!"

Romana's face turned whiter than it already was.

--

"Exterminate!" The message followed through to UNIT, where Martha looked like she was about to faint.

--

The words seemed to rotate like a rusty gear in Jack's mind. The others were concerned with his facial expression, except Romana, who merely seated herself down in a slow motion.

"No", Jack said, remembering his last situation with them... the situation where he died... but following Rose looking into the heart of the TARDIS making him have eternal life. "Oh, no".

"What is it? Who are they? D'you know them, Jack? What about you... Romana?" Gwen wondered fearfully.

Jack was speechless but Romana explained with a blank look on her face.

"They wiped out my planet. My entire race, my family, and now they're after Earth... but why... why would they want Earth..."

"Who's they?" Ianto asked.

Jack said nothing. Instead he pulled Ianto and Gwen into an embrace and kissed them both on the forehead.

--

Sarah Jane's eyes were full of tears as the message continued... those same words... over and over, she held her son tight, mumbling, "Oh God, you're so young... so young..."

--

"There's nothing I can do... I'm sorry... we're dead..." Jack said, holding the pair tight when Romana got to her feet.

"Yes, we can fight. Earth has two Time Lords on their side, and the Doctor has his followers. We will win this".

Jack merely frowned slightly. "But we can't FIND the Doctor!"

"I think I have an idea..."


	3. Chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO.

Hovering above Earth, a spaceship riddled with the voices responsible for sending shockwaves throughout the world, contained creatures known as Daleks. Daleks know no fear, sympathy, or love. They obey their orders, they exterminate on sight, and now... one rolled into the centre of a circle where his mechanical voice soon broke out:

"Supreme Dalek on the Bridge!"

The other Daleks formed a military formation following that comment, straight lines, the most superior in front. A red coated Dalek emerged from a door that had hissed open and he made his way through the ranks, his metallic head swivelling left and right, examining his army.

"Soon, the Crucible will be complete! We have waited long for this ultimate destiny. Now the Daleks are the masters of Earth!" His voice showed no sympathy for the six billion lives the Daleks were about to harvest.

The spaceship itself, had millions of Daleks on board, all priming and ready for war, knowing it would be an easy one. The Doctor and his human friends had defeated them once before – with Rose Tyler looking into the Time Vortex and displaying its true power by disintegrating those Daleks on Satellite Five. But this time, they were ready, and they knew that the Doctor was too far away to save the Earth now.

An eerie chant soon filled the space ship, the red Dalek enjoying every moment of his glory.

"Daleks are the Masters of the Earth! Daleks are the Masters of the Earth!"

--

The TARDIS was shaking violently as it propelled toward the Shadow Proclamation, an organisation where they were neutral when it came to planet rivalries, but stealing a planet was an entirely different matter. The Doctor hoped that they would listen to his plea, as he struggled to keep the TARDIS from falling apart all together. He stroked the control panel gently, feeling his hand warm underneath, his eyes dipping as he made sure they were on the right track. No time for stuff ups now and he saw Donna stand beside him, curiously.

She pulled a lever nearby where his hand had suddenly pointed. Donna, inwardly, was worried about her family and her planet. Who wouldn't be? But, she knew the Doctor would get them out of this. He always succeeded. Her hopes were starting to feel a little better now. Yet, the question remained... "So, go on then, what is the Shadow Proclamation anyway?" The words had been running about in her mind since the Doctor mentioned them, and judging by the way the TARDIS was flying – they were obviously further compared to anywhere they had travelled before.

The Doctor looked up with a small smile. "Posh name for police, outer space police. Ready? Here we go!" He pushed a button and the TARDIS came to a jolting halt. Donna steadied herself as the Doctor hurried out. She soon followed, and Donna could see that the TARDIS had materialised into a building. Her eyes wandered to two strange looking aliens pointing weapons at them, and Donna moved behind the Doctor ever so slightly. He stood firm, eyeing them.

Did they recognise him? He wasn't sure. Either way, Judoon were not to be messed with or treated lightly. They could sense a liar from a mile away, and luckily for the Doctor – he knew just how to avoid being blasted on the spot.

As expected, the Judoon in the middle spoke first... his tones bold and strong, making Donna wonder what they were saying. "Sco bo tro no flo jo ko fo. To to!"

"What did he say?" Donna whispered, but the Doctor cut her off by squeezing her wrist lightly. The Judoon didn't like anyone who spoke out of turn, and Donna was doing just that. The Doctor soon replied quickly, easing the air between them.

"No bo ho sho ko ro to so. Bo-ko-do-zo-go-bo-fo-po-jo!"

The Doctor watched as the Judoon lowered their guns, and Donna let out a sigh of relief. "Mo ho". Finished the Doctor, obviously something in the way of a thank you, and the Judoon let them pass.

"I heard a language like that once before", Donna said, once she passed out of their ear shot. "An old boyfriend of mine got blind drunk one Christmas. I swear, he sounded just like that".

The Doctor merely cracked a grin as they disappeared around a corner.

--

Donna by now had become used to strange looking figures walking around a perfectly normal looking room. She and the Doctor were now facing a fairly tall woman, with red eyes and very pale skin. The Doctor had told her that this woman was the one to talk to, so Donna hoped that she would help them.

The Shadow Architect as they're called shook her head slowly as she tried to make sense of the fact that the Doctor himself was in her presence. "Time Lords are the stuff of legend. They belong in the myths and whispers of the Higher Species. You cannot possibly exist".

Right now, the Doctor didn't care about someone boosting his own ego regarding being the only Time Lord left. He was more concerned about Earth... and who took it. He shook his head. "Yeah, more to the point, I've got a missing planet!" He didn't mean to sound snappy, but his tone was quite snappy. He was frustrated, worried, and annoyed with himself that he didn't see this happening sooner.

The Shadow Architect shook her head gently with a sigh as she rested a palm near a computer. "Then you're not as wise as the stories would say. The picture is far bigger than you imagine. The whole Universe is in outrage, Doctor. 24 worlds have been taken from the sky".

The Doctor and Donna looked up in surprise. Twenty-Four? That was impossible! Donna had never heard of such a feat happening until now, there must be some sort of reason behind it.

"How many? Which ones? Show me!" The Doctor asked in a hurried tone, knowing the information felt like the dryness of the back of his throat. He ran to where the Shadow Architect was standing and started looking through the computer files in terms of lost planets.

"Locations range far and wide", she began, watching him work. "But all disappeared at the same moment, leaving no trace".

Planet names started to fill the screen and the Doctor read them out one by one: "Callufrax Minorr, Jahoo. Shallacatop, Woman Wept... Clom! Clom's gone! Who'd want Clom?!" This was incredibly surprising to him. Clom, the twin planet of Raxacoricofallapatorius, was not a planet to like. Strange creatures known as the Abzorbaloff could absorb an entire being into themselves... taking their memories and leaving them to slowly rot away inside them, the absorbed beings still being able to remain conscious for several days afterward.

Donna remained silent the entire time until the Shadow Architect spoke again. "All different sizes, some populated, some not. But all unconnected". Donna cut in quickly.

"What about Pyrovillia?"

Finally noticing Donna Noble, the red haired woman sitting nearby, the Shadow Architect turned to face her with a rather dark look. "Who is the female?" The question was directed to the Doctor, but he knew Donna would come up with the right sort of answer.

"Donna! I'm a human being", she said with a proud stance. "Maybe not the stuff of legend but every bit as important as Time Lords; thank you very much".

The Doctor replied with a proud smile and continued working on the console.

"Doctor, remember when we were in Pompeii... Lucius said Pyrovillia had gone missing". Donna had to admit, Pompeii would be an experience that she would never forget.

"Pyrovillia is cold case. Not relevant!" A Judoon cut in, alerting Donna with a frown in response.

"How d'you mean, cold case?" She knew all about cold cases. Unsolved mysteries, locked away in a box for decades... the family goes on forever. Wondering. Hoping, but sometimes it could take yes... even decades, for a lead to pop up. How could this refer to a planet? Perhaps it was the same, she wasn't sure, but her answer was soon given when the Shadow Architect spoke once more.

"The planet Pyrovillia cannot be part of this. It disappeared over two thousand years ago". The woman shook her head sadly still, it was as if the news could not be any brighter no matter how much sense the Doctor and Donna seemed to make. "We had no choice but to close it as a cold case".

"How can it be a cold case? Look! Doctor, remember? The Adipose breeding planet... Miss Foster said that was lost as well but a long time ago. Perhaps you should take those old dusted boxes out of your archive room and take a good long look at relevant issues in order to determine if it is a cold case or not!" Donna was breathing hard. She hated any sensitive issues such as this being simply put on the shelf.

The Doctor looked up with a grin and had an idea. "That's it, Donna! Brilliant! Planets are being taken out of time as well as space... let's put this into 3-D... no, you don't need glasses for this one..." The Doctor fiddled with the computer, pressing only a couple of buttons, "Now... if we add Pyrovillia, and Adipose 3, Something missing. Where else, where else, where else, where else... lost, lost, lost lost... Oh!" He had a moment, briefly recalling Romana with a smile... and then hesitated, why did he think of that? "Oh! The lost moon of Poosh!"

The planets are moved around on the computer screen, and as the Doctor pressed a key regarding the lost moon of Poosh... the planets changed. They moved, in fact, something resembling a sort of atom orbit... as if it could contribute to a power source.

The Shadow Architect became incredibly nervous and concerned. She was beginning to swallow her earlier words about the Doctor having little knowledge. "What did you do?" She asked in a single breath, as the Doctor looked up at her and marvelled at his accomplishment.

"Nothing", the Doctor breathed with a smile. "The planets rearranged themselves into the optimum pattern. Oh, look at that! Twenty-seven planets in perfect balance, Come on, that is gorgeous!"

Donna was inwardly fascinated by the whole scenario. She'd never seen anything like it in her entire life time, and here she was... poking Clom as if it were a figment of her imagination. "Oi", she began, frightened, somewhat. "Don't get all spaceman, what does it mean?" Donna could see Earth, after all, tucked away in the middle of all these planets. Her thoughts then returned on her family and she sighed a little.

The Doctor noticed her reaction and he looked at the planets before him with a surprised glance. It only took him a few seconds to recognise what was happening before him. "All those worlds fit together like pieces of an engine", he took a breath to regain his excitement. "It's like a powerhouse! What for?"

The Shadow Architect thought for a moment, checking on all the possible signs, which could lead to the planets being stolen. Her eyes narrowed as she thought, but, with all that knowledge trapped inside her mind she couldn't recall anyone who would think of stealing all those planets for some strange, unknown reason, an engine – but for what reason?

"Who could design such a thing?" She asked in a single breath, facing the Doctor, who looked up at her with a shake of his head.

"Someone tried to move the Earth once before. Long time ago... but it can't be..." he trailed off, unsure if he should be certain regarding that train of thought. A frown crossed his face as things started falling into place.


End file.
